Temple of the Winds © 2008 Bo Mackison

Photographed at the ruins of Tulum, an archeological site of the Mayans dating from 650 AD. It is located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, just south of Cozumel on the mainland.

The “Temple of the Wind” is perched high over the Caribbean Sea. It was designed by the Mayans as a lookout for marauders and more importantly as a hurricane warning system. When the hurricane winds headed for a direct hit on Tulum, the winds whistled through a specially designed hole at the top of the temple. The Mayans would hear the signal and then know to leave the walled city and seek protection near the outer wall. (12 feet high and seven feet thick).

The temple whistled when Hurricane Roxanne reached hurricane force winds in 1995.